SEVEN MONTHS..

since we last set foot on Kenyan soil! A frequent comment in our home is ..”Daddy, Mamma, we miss Korr!”.  We are counting the days till we can return, trusting God to bring us back to Kenya in time for a fruitful year of ministry in 2011.

FOUR MONHTS..

till a possible US trip. We would still love to make it to the States as a family, before going to Kenya. It would be great to see Loki’s brothers and we have had numerous invitations from various friends. It will depend on paperwork and finances, whether we can pull it off or not

ONE WEEK..

till we finally get away on holiday.We hope to spend a week away and have time to really focus on our girls, who have been valiantly following us, meeting many faces and seeing many different places. We’ve been meeting with folks all over the show and it has been wonderful to see others with a heart for Theological Education in Africa.  A particular highlight was us visiting  (and Grant preaching) at Strandfontein Baptist.  Such warm fellowship and enthusiastic singing we haven’t seen for a while.

EIGHT SLEEPS..

till we will be sure whether the two Xhosa boys we have been waiting for and praying for will in fact be part of our family in the near future.

PLEASE PRAY

1. For Grant to gain entrance into the Masters programme at BI. His application is being sent this week to North West University.

2. For the meetings that we have lined up for the next few months. For wisdom in getting all the preparation done for our travels and return to Kenya. There is a still a lot more paperwork to wade through, but we have come a fair way.

3. For the boys- that if these two Xhosa boys are the sons for us and the brothers for Abby and Caity, that God would hide them under His wings and keep them for us. The due date for the final word is 19 July. If all goes well with subsequent official hurdles , they could come to us around mid-August.  We won’t be allowed to actually meet them till the day we are  to bring them home. Pray for us for the financial implications involved in the adoption process.

PRAISES!

1.   Thank God for a wonderful week that the girls had at Holy Trinity Church, Gardens, attending their holiday club. The girls love attending this multi-cultural church and have made some great friends. They ask a few times every week  “Is it church day yet?”.

2. For God providing two substantial sums of money for the Tirrim Schools! This is a huge once-off provision and we are so thankful for the relief it will bring, while still trusting God for more on-going regular sponsors for the school.

 3. For God providing a new cell phone for Grant! If you want to book a speaking engagement, you can reach him at 0713 790 226.

One day, long, long ago…

In a country far away, a man and his wife lived in a desert. It was hot and dusty, but there was lots to learn and lots to do, so they were happy. Well, almost happy. The Maker had given them a deep desire to have and raise children, but He had not given them any. He did give them a plan. They could look for children who didn’t have parents and give them a home.

First, they had to settle into the country and lean to speak the language.

Soon, the day came that the couple went to the big city to try and look for children to help.

In the big city they found an office where people who were looking for children could be helped and they started asking questions. On one of the walls in this office, there was a big picture of a little girl with these words written under it “You cannot change the whole world, but you can change the world for one person” “Yes, they thought this is what we want to do.”

It was the fifth month when the couple went to the big city to ask about how to get children.

The people in the office gave them many papers to fill in.

Soon they had to go back to the desert and many months went past. Everything was going so slow! These papers had many questions and some papers had to be filled out by others from a far-away country. The man and his wife had a machine on which to write, but this machine couldn’t send messages to people from the desert. It only worked if they traveled to a place much closer to the big city. Finally, 9 months later all the papers were completed.

Now, the man and his wife had to travel to the big city again. The people from the office wanted to speak to them. They had to answer many, many questions. Some, they had to be together for. Others, they had to answer by themselves.

After the day of questions, the man and his wife had to wait. The people in the office were going to have a big meeting and then they would tell the couple if they would be allowed to get any children.

Another 2 months past and finally in the eighth month of the second year, the man and his wife were told that they had been approved of. Oh, what joy!

But, the man soon found out that it wouldn’t be so easy to get the children that they wanted.

The Maker had put an idea into their heads that they should get two baby girls who looked like the people of the desert where they lived, but in the big city there were not many desert people.

Again, months went by. The couple had to pray to the Maker for patience. If this was His idea, why was it so hard? Why did it take so long? Why didn’t they get any girl babies?

But, the Maker was busy. He already knew where the desert girlies were. He could see them and He was working and bringing them to their new Mommy and Daddy.

The man and his wife didn’t know, but the girls the Maker had chosen for them, had already been born. The one little baby girl had been born in the eighth month in a very big hospital. She was so very, very small that people thought she might die. But, the Maker was watching over her.

Another little girl, who was going to be her sister, was found by a kind old lady in the tenth month and she was brought to a safe place.

The man and his wife though, were still waiting. Finally, in the second month of the third year, the man told his wife. “We have waited long enough. We are now going to the big city and we will look for two girl babies ourselves”. So, they packed up their big Landrover and went to the big city. In the first week, they went to two different homes for babies. At the one place, they weren’t allowed to see any babies. At the other, they saw three children, but they were not babies. And they were a boy and a girl.

The man and his wife went back to the house, very confused. What to do? They decided that they would go to one more children’s home just to see if there they

could find what they had asked the Maker for so long ago… two baby girls who looked like the Desert People.

It was with trembling hearts that the man and his wife went to the last home. What would happen? Would they have to let go of their dream? The home was lovely. The lady who came to see them was so friendly. Like so many times before, the man asked “ Do you have two girl babies for us? We would love it if they look like our Desert People?”

YES, said the lady, we do! The man and his wife followed as if in a dream. Around the corner they went, to the Baby Cottage. And there, they were introduced to two baby girls of around 6 months who looked a lot like their Desert People.

There was the girllie who had been found by the kind old lady! She had huge, big eyes and a very friendly smile. There was the other little girl who had been born in a hospital and was so tiny that she had everybody worried. She was still tiny and her legs were very thin, but she looked full of ‘oomph’ and had a gleam in the eye. She had just come to the home a couple of weeks before.

The Maker had been keeping the man and his wife waiting in the desert, because he wanted these two girlies to be theirs.

The man and his wife took one look, had one talk and said “Yes, we want them! They are the ones that we have been praying for. The Maker has answered us exactly in the way He had put in our hearts! “

For the next few days, the man and his wife visited the girlies every day, getting to know them better and bette

r. There was still one paper missing, so the man and his wife had to wait for a few more days.

Finally, in the beginning of the third month of the third year, the man and his wife took the babies home. They prayed and thanked the Maker for leading them to these two precious ones.

After one night in the big city (with many times of waking up), the man and his wife took the babies, put them in the Land Rover and drove back to the desert.

As they drove in by the gate, the man’s Mother and Father came running to the car. They wanted to pick up the babies and welcome them into the family.

The man and his wife and his parents and all who lived there with them in the little town in the desert were so happy. The girlies were just what they wanted. So funny, so full of personality, so special.

The law of the big city said that parents who had chosen children at a home, had to bring them back to the big city every month for three months. The man and his wife put the children in the Land Rover every month, drove to the big city and answered all the questions. The little skinny one was getting stronger by the day. Someone even came from the big city to see where the man and his wife lived and how they were looking after the girls and to ask more questions.

Then, at the end of 5th month of year number three, the man and his wife were told. “ You can now go to court. Find someone who can speak for you in front of the judge” The man and his wife had spoken to many and they had chosen a man to speak for them who had helped others to get their babies.

Again, there were many papers to be prepared. The man who would speak for the couple in front of the judge, told them that the courts would be closed for a couple of months.

Before they knew it, year number three was gone and they still hadn’t made it to the court.

It was only in the second month of year number four that the man and his wife finally went to court.

This first time in court the man and his wife had brought someone they knew to come and speak for the girlies. The law of the city said that the children of parents who want to chose them, have to have someone to look out for them, in the court and also at their parents’ place.

The judge (a lady) was not very friendly. She kept asking angry questions. Not like one looking for answers, but like someone who already knows the answers. The man and his wife were trembling in their hearts..would this work? As they sat there, the man and his wife prayed and prayed. They had their girlies on their laps and they were asking the Maker to help them to answer the many questions. The man speaking for them to the judge had told them that the week before the judge was very strict and that they should be very quiet.

Finally, the Maker gave the man courage to speak. He had a plan. The judge listened and she agreed. She would allow their friend to be the one looking out for the children and the man and his wife would find a way to get their friend to see a lot of the children, so that he can keep an eye on them.

The law of the big city said that after going to the court, the man and wife had to sit down with someone from the big city and answer many, many questions. After the court was over, a man came to the house where the man was staying with his wife and the girlies and he asked many questions for many hours and wrote many things down.

He told them that someone else would come to their house in the desert to see if it is a good house and to see if they are looking after the children.

In the fourth month of the fourth year a man came to the desert. He came very late in the evening. The next day, he looked at the house, he asked questions, then he left.

The man and his wife had to now wait for the man from the big city and the man who came to the desert to write a long paper.

Finally they finished and the paper came. In it they wrote many good things, but there was a problem. The man from the big city said that if the man and his wife ever decided to leave the desert and go back to their own land far away, there would be trouble.

Would they be allowed to take the children with? Would their country want the girlies?

So, the man and his wife started writing and phoning and asking. The Maker had helped them to get a machine that could send letters to others even from the desert. The Maker had also lead them to a friend and his wife who had chosen a baby boy and also needed to go to the court. Now the couple had someone to help them.

The months went by and nothing happened. A letter came from the man’s country, but the one talking to the judge for them said “No, this letter is no good, you will have to get another one”

In the second month of the fifth year the man had to go to his country. He and his wife were very sad. They couldn’t take the girlies with, because they were still waiting to go to court.

She had to stay behind, while he would go and talk to people in his country who might be able to help. He went and spoke to many people who said that they would pray and ask the Maker to help. Then, one day in the fourth month of the fifth year the friend and his wife were in the man’s country and they brought another letter.

This time, said the man who talks to the judge, this time, we can go and see the judge. The man and his wife got ready, put the girlies in the Land Rover and went to the big city. It was now the sixth month of the fifth year and they really wanted to go see the judge. But, a day before they were going to court, they were told. “Sorry, the judge will not be there tomorrow. Also the man who was supposed to look out for the girlies in court would not be there”.

The man and his wife decided to wait. They waited and waited. They stayed in the big city for one month, to see if they would be able to go to court. But, at the end of the seventh month they were told “Sorry there is no chance, you have to go back to the desert. The court is closed. Come back again in the ninth month”

So, back again went the man and his wife. It had been a very hard time for them in the big city. They had waited so long to make sure that the girlies would be theirs, but it was not happening.

They wrote letters to friends and they asked “Please pray to the Maker. Only He can fix this”

They didn’t know what to do, but they just went on living, talking to the Maker every day, reading His book, teaching others about Him.

Then, at the end of the ninth month of the fifth year, the man and his wife went down again with the girlies in the Land Rover. They had been told that the court was open and that there would be a chance for them.

They got there on the 24th day of the ninth month full of hope and somewhat full of fear. Then, they heard it.. “Sorry, the judge is away, you cannot come to court” The man and his wife didn’t know what to think, what to feel, what to do. They kept talking to the Maker, trying not to worry, trying to remember that all along this had been the Maker’s plan, that He is the one who had chosen the girlies for them in the first place.

As they were sitting down to lunch, there was a phone call! The man who talks to the judge told them. “I have a plan. I think that I can ask special permission for

you to come to the court next week. There is a new judge. I think it will work.”

On the 29th day of the ninth month, the man and his wife and the girlies were at court almost the whole day. Waiting to get a chance to speak to the judge from the morning till after lunch time.

Finally the door opened for them and they went in. The man spoke to the judge for them.

The judge was friendly and asked questions like someone who wants to know.

She told them there was one more thing to do and that they should come back the next day.

The next day, on the 30th day of the ninth month, the man and his wife and the girlies went back to court. The judge was there, she asked a few more good questions.

She took out a piece of paper and she started writing.

She signed, she said… “These are the final orders. They will now be yours”.

The man and his wife and the girlies went out of the court and stood there with their friend.

The man thanked the Maker. “Thank you for giving us these precious girlies. Thank you for today and the judge and that they are now ours”

The man and his wife and the girlies went home and they jumped up and down, because they were so very, very, very happy and thankful.